Added 5 October 2026
barren
/ˈbæɹən/ adjective
In Latin: sterilis Wiktionary
adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about barren at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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Not bearing children, childless; hence also unable to bear children, sterile.
I silently wept as my daughter's husband rejected her. What would she do now that she was no longer a maiden but also barren?
- Not bearing seed or fruit.
- Of poor fertility, infertile; not producing vegetation; desert, waste.
noun
- An area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place.
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In particular, a usually elevated and flat expanse of land that only supports the growth of small trees and shrubs, and sometimes mosses or heathers, berries, and other marshy or moory vegetation, but little agriculture and few people.
The pine barrens are a site lonely enough to suit any hermit.
Origin
From Middle English bareyne, from Anglo-Norman baraigne, baraing (“sterile; barren”), of obscure origin; probably from a Germanic language, perhaps Frankish *baʀ (“bare; barren”), from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“bare”). If so, a cognate of English bare.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)